NEWS I REVIEW Canadian Solar provides PV research
Canadian Solar announced the delivery of 1 MW of high efficiency ELPS solar modules for a research and testing plant, installed by Nordwest Solar, in the German area Emsland. In various zones of the 3 hectare-sized solar park located in Werlte different characteristics of solar modules will be tested in order to achieve new insights to efficiency increase. Construction is planned to start in June. The PV plant is one of the first projects in Germany where Canadian Solar’s ELPS technology will be installed.
The research and testing plant with a capacity of MW was initiated by Institut für Erneuerbare Energien GmbH & Co. KG (IEE), 3N-Kompetenzzentrum Niedersachsen Netzwerk Nachwachsende Rohstoffe and the municipality Werlte. Due to their delivery reliability Großhandelszentrum für Photovoltaik Redpoint Solar GmbH was selected as supplier for the system
components of the solar testing field. Right from the planning stage of this challenging project and the installation of the i.a. ELPS solar modules of Canadian Solar the IEE relies on experience and competence and cooperates with Nordwest Solar Energiesysteme GmbH, one of the leading companies in the PV industry.
”The Northern part of German is incorrectly seen to be less interesting for PV installations. We want to show which advantages result from lower temperatures and therefore a lower decrease of performance of the modules. Thus we have chosen the technologically leading Canadian Solar modules with the new ELPS technology,” said Jörg Klingenberg (IEE). Canadian Solar’s ELPS cells feature a Metal Wrap Through (MWT) design, and can absorb 3% more light per cell. ELPS modules deliver up to 7% more electricity than similar
configuration conventional solar modules.
”Increasing efficiency is the most important topic for the solar industry. With our ELPS technology we made a big leap as our most recent
In-house test showed results of 21.1 percent efficiency with our proprietary mono ELPS solar cell. We are very pleased that this technology will be used in Werlte,“ said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar.
Off grid solar using existing infrastructure
They are a ubiquitous sight in Uganda. Radio masts, powered by noisy, smelly Diesel generators. Solar powered cellular services is an idea that will not only help the mobile carriers cut the emissions from the expensive Diesel fuel by more than 90%, but the solar power will also to be used to provide green electricity to adjacent settlements.
In a pilot study conducted with their German partner Kirchner Solar Group, the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) will develop a marketing concept for solar power in the private sector. This could turn hundreds of radio masts in Uganda into lighthouses shining their light into remote villages. GIZ is a German federal intitiave that seeks to implement sustainable soultions around the globe.
80% of Uganda’s 34 million people live off farming. More than 27 million live in rural areas where only 3% of all households have electricity. The lack of electricity hinders the growth of small service providers and craftsmen. It also restricts the rural population’s lifestyle. Every evening millions of huts are illuminated by petroleum lamps. These lamps pollute the air with carcinogenic substances and are
expensive to operate. One kw hour produced by petroleum burners, small Diesel generators or batteries is far more expensive than solar power. A farmer depending on subsidies who only thinks ahead from harvest to harvest will find it hard to plan ahead and save money to purchase currently available solar solutions.
The idea behind the new approach is for the mobile carriers to become the main customers and village households become the small customers.
The solar power provider has a mobile carrier as a guaranteed key customer – the Airtel company already accepted the deal. Some radio masts in remote regions adjacent to settlements are selected in a pilot project to serve as connection points for solar electrification. The solar power provider will supply energy to the radio mast while at the same time selling solar power to surrounding households. The power is to be sold by a prepaid meter system: the customer only pays as many kilowatt-hours that they can afford. GIZ Uganda builds on an approach already applied by Insensus in a cooperation project with GIZ to produce wind-solar energy in Senegal.
Kirchner Solar Group, a company running 12 locations worldwide, has been operating in Uganda since 2008 and has set up four shops, one production plant and a training center near the town of Kampala.
Since 1999, the GIZ has been active in Uganda’s on behalf of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The “Development Program for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency (PREEEP)“ has long- standing relations with the BMZ and with relevant authorities, such as the Rural Electrification Authority. The concept of off-grid rural electrification has already been politically positioned.
BMZ plans to support the pilot project because they pursue the goal to foster local power supply: when you multiply the approximately 1,000 people that can be supplied per radio mast by the number of remote off-grid radio masts in Uganda, the result is a potential of up to 250,000 people that could be given access to electricity this way. This could alleviate the harsh conditions of the rural population and improve the production possibilities for rural entrepreneurs, which in turn translates into jobs.
Issue V 2012 I
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